Swiss AI mouse aims to replace live animal testing

Swiss researchers have created an artificial intelligence (AI) version of a mouse that would replace live animal testing by assessing the effects of new active compounds on a computer. +Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox The Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa) said the model could be used as a decision-making aid in drug development. It calculates how nanoparticles with certain properties are distributed in the organism. This is particularly relevant for the development of therapies against brain tumours, as nanoparticles can cross the blood-brain barrier. Join the debate: Researcher Jimeng Wu developed the so-called physiologically based pharmacokinetic model. She used 18 previous studies with mice as a data basis. With the help of machine learning, the model can adapt its parameters to the properties of the respective nanoparticle. The AI tool makes it possible to virtually test which particles are suitable for a task ...